Council approve plans to build 361 new homes to further expand urban expansion on outskirts of Northampton...despite local objection
Plans to build a further 361 homes next to a massive housing estate on the edge of Northampton have been approved by the council.
Members of the West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) planning committee discussed the residential proposals at a meeting on February 17.
The new homes will join onto Collingtree Park, which is a 1,000-home urban extension on the south western edge of Northampton, near East Hunsbury. The M1 motorway runs along the bottom of the site and the western edge borders the West Coast Mainline Railway.
Councillors voted to approve the plans despite concerns that new residents would struggle to access overloaded primary healthcare services. The council received 29 letters of objection, which criticised the project for inadequate infrastructure, exacerbating road congestion and the removal of green space.
A further 11 letters of support were also submitted, which highlighted the delivery of much-needed new homes.
Michael Campbell, from East Hunsbury Parish Council, spoke against the proposals due to the pressure it could put on the Danes Camp doctors surgery.
He said the £530,512 healthcare contribution proposed through the Section 106 agreement was “not an inconsiderable sum”, but raised concerns that there is little scope to expand the surgery and that the money could be lost if they can’t find the floorspace.
He asked that the decision be deferred until there is further investigation into how the healthcare provision, which he said was “so desperately needed”, will be improved.
However, members were told that the use of the healthcare funds was in the hands of the ICB and that they couldn’t “hold the developer at ransom” for something they had no control over.
Developers say that 35 per cent of the 361 homes will be marketed as affordable housing, including 88 homes at social rent. The wider site will include a mix of one and two-bed apartments and a range of houses with up to five bedrooms.
Initial plans also indicate that parts of the development have been designated for play areas and parks.
The applicant, Vistry Latimer Collingtree LLP and Lagan Homes, has been greenlit for outline permission at this stage. Further proposals containing more detail about the individual parcels of homes must come forward before housebuilding can start.